Synology NAS can serve as a multimedia server at home, allowing devices such as TVs/stereo systems and PlayStation3/Xbox 360, to play its movies, music and show photos. Can my Synology NAS transcode videos for my device? You may ask…
Answer :
Video transcoding refers to the process of converting video files originally unsupported by a media player into a compatible format. Different DiskStation models are equipped with different transcoding capabilities. Your DiskStation may belong to either Group 1 or Group 2 (listed to the bottom of this page). You can stream your video collection to a media player using Video Station, DS video or Media Server on your Synology NAS. Below are tables indicating the behavior of Synology NAS in respective scenarios.
Video Station and DS video
Table 1 shows the video transcoding capabilities of different models when streaming video to popular media players with Video Station or DS video.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DS214play/DS415play | non-DS214play/DS415play | ||
| Win PC and Mac browsers | * MP4, MOV and M4V: stream original video file | ||
| * MP4 (multi audio tracks) or MKV: remux video1 | |||
| * Transcode video up to 1080p2* Use 3rd party plugin for unsupported formats (Win PC only) | * Transcode video up to 720p2* Use 3rd party plugin for unsupported formats (Win PC only) | * 3rd-party plugin (Win PC only) required for unsupported formats | |
| Apple TV | * MP4: stream original video (without subtitles) | ||
| * MP4 and MKV: remux video (with subtitles) | |||
| * Transcode video up to 1080p2 | * Transcode video up to 720p2 | N/A | |
| DLNA devices | Transmit original files to the DLNA devices; supported formats depend on the device. | ||
| Chromecast | * MP4, MOV, M4V, and MKV: stream original video (video codec: H.264 HP@L4.1; audio codec: AAC/MP3) | ||
| * MP4, MOV, M4V, and MKV: remux video if audio codec is AC3 | |||
| * Transcode video up to 1080p2 | * Transcode video up to 720p2 | N/A | |
| iOS | * MP4: stream original video | ||
| * MKV: remux video | |||
| * Transcode video up to 1080p2 | * Transcode video up to 720p2 | * 3rd-party solution required for unsupported formats | |
| Android | * Supported formats depend on the device. We recommend installing MX Player for optimal experience. | ||
| * Stream original video up to 1080p or downsample video to 480p2 | * Stream original video up to 1080p or downsample video to 320p2 | N/A | |
| Windows Phone | * MP4, WMV: stream original video | ||
| * Transcode videos up to 720p2 | N/A | ||
| Roku players | * MP4 (mpeg4 Pt 14), M4V, and MOV (Video Codec: h264 / mpeg4 ; Audio Codec: aac / ac3 / mp3 / none and non-5.1 aac): stream original video | ||
| * MKV: remux video | |||
| * Transcode videos up to 1080p (resolution conditioned by Roku models)2 | * Transcode videos up to 720p2 | N/A | |
Media Server
Table 2 shows the behavior of Synology NAS running Media Server.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DS214play/DS415play | non-DS214play/DS415play | ||
| DLNA devices | * For XBOX 360, transcode to ASF up to 480p.* For other DLNA devices, transcode to TS up to 1080p2. | * Transmit original files to the DLNA devices; supported formats depend on the device.* For PlayStation 3 and Sony TV, remuxing is available to support MKV. | |
Note:
1. Remuxing here refers to the process of transcoding the audio codec of your video while keeping the video codec intact. This enables your PC browser (without plugin) or your Apple TV to play MP4 or MKV videos whose audio codec is not supported.
2. Any container or file extension with codecs H.264 (AVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1 can be transcoded up to 1080p by DS214play and 720p by other Synology NAS in Group 1. These containers can be MKV, MP4, AVI, TS, MPG, WMV and more. However, these containers/file extensions might come in codecs other than the four mentioned. In that case, videos cannot be transcoded to 1080p. Please refer to this article for more information on the container formats.
3. All Group 1 models are capable of transcoding 3GP, 3G2, ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, DVR-MS, FLV, M2T, M2TS, M4V, MKV, MP4, MTS, MOV, QT, TP, TRP, TS, VOB, WMV, XviD, and RMVB up to 720p. For the complete list of supported file formats in the original and transcoded streams, please see the specifications of Video Station and DS video.
DiskStation Models and Groups
You can refer to the table below to determine which video transcoding group your DiskStation belongs to. If your model is not listed below (e.g. DS112j or DS212j), it does not have transcoding capabilities.
| Supported Video Transcoding Type | Applicable Model |
|---|---|
| Group 1 | DS3615xs, DS2015xs, DS1815+, DS1515+, DS415+, DS415play, RS3614xs+, RS3614(RP)xs, RS2414(RP)+, RS814(RP)+, DS214play, RS10613xs+, RS3413xs+, DS2413+, DS1813+, DS1513+, DS713+, RS3412(RP)xs, RS2212(RP)+, RS812(RP)+, DS3612xs, DS1812+, DS1512+, DS712+, DS412+, RS3411(RP)xs, RS2211(RP)+, DS3611xs, DS2411+, DS1511+, DS411+II, DS411+, RS810(RP)+, DS1010+, DS710+ |
| Group 2 | DS215j, DS115j, RS214, DS414, DS414j, DS414slim, DS214+, DS214, DS214se, DS114, EDS14, DS413, DS413j, DS213+, DS213, DS213air, DS213j, RS812, RS212, DS212+, DS212, DS112+, DS112, RS411, DS411, DS411slim, DS211+, DS211, DS111, DS410, DS210+, DS110+, DS509+, RS409RP+, RS409+, DS409+, DS209+II, DS209+, DS109+ |
What if my DiskStation doesn’t support transcoding?
Even though the video format is not supported by your client device, you can install 3rd party applications or plugins to play it if any is available. After testing, I found Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate (Read Review) is what you need to convert nearly all popular audio and video format and unprotected Blu-ray, DVD movie files to any format for storage on Synology NAS. Mac version is here. Just have a try!
Other applications available for each platform such as Windows PC and iOS/Android devices can be found in the specifications of Video Station and DS video.